Six Years
by made-from-chemicals
Summary: What if Riley and Danny never stayed friends after high school? What if Riley hadn't seen Danny in six years? What if Riley hadn't seen Danny until Ben calls her, stuck with a baby, and needs her help? Will Danny finally confess his love for her, a secret he's kept from her all his life?
1. Chapter 1

"I'll see you soon." I spoke into the phone and then hung up on my call with Ben Wheeler.

Ben Wheeler. _Ben Wheeler._ I smiled shyly and put my cell in my purse. I hadn't seen him since...right before I went to fat camp and lost all my weight. That was...four years ago. What could he possibly want now? What kind of person just...doesn't talk to you for four years and then suddenly calls you up out of the blue?

But as I walked into my bathroom to touch up my makeup, I realized that I didn't care. This was Ben, the Ben I'd been in love with ever since I could remember, calling _me._ Sure, that was back in high school, but...maybe he would finally see me differently now. Not as his brother's fat best friend. Well, old best friend anyway. I hadn't talked to Danny since we graduated high school. I kind of always thought Danny and I would be friends forever, we'd always been so close, but I hadn't heard from him since my graduation party. It wasn't a party exactly, just my family and Danny's, but those were the only people I'd really cared about anyway. That night had seemed so perfect...Danny and I had danced together and then later went up to my room and sat on my bed and talked about our futures; what kind of careers we wanted, the kinds of things we wanted to accomplish. I only stayed in town for two weeks after graduation, then I left for a summer program at the college I went to. During those two weeks, Danny was nowhere to be seen. I tried contacting him, so many times, I can't begin to count the number of texts, voicemails, and emails I'd sent to him over the years. But he just never responded. Needless to say, it broke my heart. I don't think I'd ever experienced anything quite as heartbreaking.

I tried to keep my mind off Danny. He wasn't the one I was going to see. It was Ben. I put on more mascara and made sure my lipstick wasn't smeared, and then I was out the door.

I had Ben's address written down on a piece of folded up notebook paper, stowed away in my purse, but I didn't need it. I already had it memorized. I remembered back in high school of all the things I had memorized about him. His favorite movie, his favorite song, though I doubted either of those were still the same.

I wondered about the kind of person he was now. Had he changed? Or was he still the same person he'd been in high school? I hoped he hadn't changed too much. From what I could remember, he was already perfect.

I pulled up outside the apartment complex. _Well, this was it._ Walking up to his door, I hesitated. Was I making the right decision? Was agreeing to meet Ben after all this time the right choice? What did he even want? I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and thought; _yes._

But when I opened the door, I was _not_ expecting what I saw. I felt like all the air was being knocked out of me, as I stared up at my old best friend. His blue eyes twinkled, shining brightly, as he stared back down at me. I couldn't breathe, and I felt paralyzed. _What was he doing here?_

"D-Danny?" I finally choked out.

I felt myself start to tear up, the corners of my eyes watering, but I willed myself not to cry. I couldn't, not in front of him. All the memories of our friendship came hurtling at me, years and years together, so many memories, good memories, all good memories. And then I thought of the deep ache I felt when he left me, the hollowness in my chest that had still never seemed to leave me even after all these years. It hurt, so much, in that moment, just to look at him.

"Riley..." Danny breathed out, his voice low and raw, almost cracking.

He stood holding the door open, wide enough that I could see him but not wide enough for me to come in, so I stayed in the hallway, though I wasn't sure I could've made it inside the apartment; my legs felt like jelly.

His face...he looked so unbelievably happy...until his expression changed, his facial features pinching up, and he suddenly looked either very, very sad, or very, very much in pain. I couldn't tell which, maybe it was a cross between both. Either way, I just kept staring at him, all my emotions in a jumble. Was I happy to see him? Was I angry? I just couldn't explain what I was feeling.

"Well," I crossed my arms, "you gonna let me in?"

"Oh yeah, yeah of course." He stepped back to let me walk inside.

And then I saw him. He was sitting on the couch, with, oddly enough, a baby in his lap. I walked away from Danny, away from all the confusion I was feeling, and walked over to sit beside Ben. I tried to ignore the baby as I looked at him, soaking him in. His perfectly styled hair, warm brown eyes that sparkled, and _those lips,_ those lips that curled up into a smile as he looked up at me. This, this was the man I'd fallen so hard for so long ago.

"Say hello to Emma." He held up the baby's hand and moved it side to side in a wave.

I beamed down at the little girl. "Aw, hi sweetie!" I cooed.

"Is she...yours?" I asked.

"Yeah."

My heart started to sink. Of course he was with someone.

"I'm almost positive."

I frowned. "What do you mean 'almost positive'?" I questioned.

Ben's eyes shifted to Danny's, who had shut the door and walked closer to us.

"She was left on our doorstep...an old fling Ben had had with this girl...he never knew she was pregnant. We don't know for sure..." Danny shrugged.

I looked back down at the baby, and I _knew_ , knew without a doubt she was his. I could see it in her eyes; they had the same sparkle.

"I don't understand..." I shook my head. "What does this have to do with me? Why...why after all these years?" I sighed. Seeing Ben wasn't as painful as seeing Danny, but it still hurt. Ben and I had lost contact before I'd gotten my bachelor's degree, before law school. I guess there wasn't really a reason for why we stopped talking, it just kind of happened. We used to text and call each other from time to time, but then they just started getting less frequent, until they stopped altogether.

"Riley, I'm so sorry we lost contact." He shifted Emma on his lap. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

"That still doesn't explain..."

He took a deep breath. "I know you're finishing up law school...our moms still talk to each other...and I, I don't know any lawyers or how to deal with any of this legal stuff, and I completely get if you don't want to help me out, but...I _need_ you, Riley."

Looking at him, the baby softly gurgling, that stupid _sparkle_ in his eyes that was still irresistible, I knew I would say yes; I would've said yes to anything he asked me in that moment. Because I knew I was still hopelessly, pathetically, head over heels for him.

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 **A/N: Omg, hi! This is my first Danny x Riley fic, I hope you guys like it! Opinions would be greatly appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Ben had first called me. He'd had a DNA test done, and it was confirmed that Emma was his, though I'd already known that since the moment I looked at her. There wasn't much legal stuff to handle either really. Ben had all the rights; Angela wanted absolutely nothing to do with Emma.

I'd figured things would've just gone back to the way they were, but Ben had told me that he wanted me back in his life, and Emma's too. Things had been really weird at first, because we'd gone four years without speaking, six years since I'd seen Danny, and I didn't even know their roommate, Tucker, but I was slowly getting adjusted. Things were turning out to be nice even; I was finishing up law school and had an internship lined up, the only thing that wasn't nice were things between Danny and me. It was still awkward every time we saw each other. We just didn't know what to say to each other. What could we? Nothing could erase what happened, nothing could fix our damaged relationship. I wanted so badly to be a part of his life again, but it felt like he didn't even want me to be. I just figured things would be better if we didn't even try to mend our friendship.

I woke up to a text message. It was a Saturday and I'd slept in. I unlocked my phone and sat on my bed, staring at the message from Danny.

 **Danny: Want to meet up for lunch today? I think we should talk and catch up.**

I bit my lip, hard. He wanted to talk? After ignoring me for the whole week I'd been back? Yeah, sure, we could talk. Starting with what the hell happened after graduation. And what happened to my best friend. The person I grew up with, my favorite person in the entire world. Because that person was as good and gone as our friendship.

I angrily punched letters on my phone, sending him a reply.

 **Me: I'd love to. Where and what time?**

I threw the phone down on the nightstand and got up to take a quick shower. When I came back, he'd already replied.

 **Danny: One o'clock? The bar?**

 **Me: I'll see you there.**

After I got dressed I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection. I tugged at my hair. _Did he like it short? Or did he like my long hair better? Oh, why do you care,_ I scolded myself. I tucked my hair behind my ear and left the bathroom, grabbing my purse, and walking out of my small apartment.

* * *

I spotted Danny the moment I walked inside the bar. He was sitting by himself on the couch, looking around, probably for me. His head turned once I walked up to him, and his lips instantly curled up in a warm smile as he looked up at me.

"Riley." He said in a greeting.

"Danny."

He stood up, tall and intimidating, and then wrapped his arms around me. _Oh, how I'd missed his arms around me._ He held me a moment longer than necessary, and then reluctantly let go and sat back down. I took a seat next to him, taking my purse off.

"So, how have you been?" He asked.

"How have I been?" I laughed. "Well, I was doing fine until I saw you."

He self consciously looked down at himself. "What, did I spill something on myself?"

I rolled my eyes. "I meant the first time, a week ago."

"Oh," He frowned, "look Riley..."

He grabbed my hand and held it firmly in his, his gaze burning through me, deep blue eyes twinkling, "I'm sorry we lost contact with each other."

I glared at him accusingly. "We didn't lose contact, Danny. You left me." I pointed out, bluntly.

He sniffled, as if somehow he could hide the tears quickly forming in his eyes. He'd always been so emotional.

"Riley, I-"

I cut him off. "Do you even understand what you put me through? The pain...it was unbearable."

He couldn't hold them back anymore, and I watched, guiltily, as his cheeks glistened with his tears. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I'm so sorry, Riley."

"I never got over it." I confessed. I'd spent so much time hoping he'd come back. That we could just go back to how we used to be, but I didn't know if we could ever go back to what we used to be.

"Neither did I." He admitted. "I've missed you so much."

"Oh Danny, I've missed you too."

I threw my arms around him and leaned into his touch. I wanted him back so much. I _needed_ him. Needed him so bad it was like I couldn't breathe, and he was my oxygen.

"I'm never letting you go again, Riley." He swore, holding me tighter against him, and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

It felt like forever, him holding me as he nuzzled his face into my neck, my hair. I craved him, craved everything about him. I never wanted him to let go of me. But then we heard a loud throat clearing and Danny untangled himself from me. I felt cold, already missing his touch.

I looked up to see Ben. He stared down at us, eyes flitting between the two of us curiously.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

Danny laughed nervously beside me. "Interrupting something? What? No."

"Yeah, we were just catching up." I smiled helplessly, and shrugged my shoulders.

"Right...okay." He looked like he doubted our words, but seemed to let it go. "You guys want any drinks?"

Ben's eyes shifted over to Danny, who must have given him some kind of look, because then he looked back at me and said, "You know...I really just need to get back to work. I shouldn't be over here talking to you guys." He laughed awkwardly.

"But you were just asking us if we wanted drinks? Isn't that your job?"

But Ben didn't hear me, he'd already ran off. I looked back at Danny, who was smiling nervously. "That was weird, like really weird." I said.

"Oh, you know Ben, he's so weird!"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Okay...so..."

"Look, Riley..." His eyes seemed to soften. "I'm sorry for everything that happened between us. I know we spent a lot of time apart, and I hate myself for being the one who caused that, but I promise I will make it up to you."

My heart warmed, and my lips instantly broke into a huge grin. I remembered the guy from high school, the guy who canceled his plans just to hang out with me, the guy who would've done anything just to make me feel better when I was upset, and this, this guy in front of me right now, was that guy.

"You've got a lot to make up for, Wheeler."

"Oh, Riley, if there's one thing about me that hasn't changed since high school, it's that I love a challenge."

I giggled softly, and he smiled brightly. Maybe we couldn't go back to what we used to be, but maybe we were starting something new. Something better and even more permanent.

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 **A/N: Reviews are always appreciated!**


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